After some experiments with hand techniques, I got thinking that it might be nice to try some mechanical engraving (perhaps in combination) on my bone pieces. I have designed some engraving patterns to be CNC milled into some bone pieces – more next post on that.

Louise Bufardeci is an Australian artist based in Melbourne who works primarily in textile pieces, subverting traditional techniques in order to explore political, ethical and social tensions. My personal favourite is the series Starter Pistols, which uses bargello, a traditional Florentine needlepoint technique, to map sound waves of gunshots from various weapons from around the world.

It looks as though I’ll be going on exchange to Germany early next year, to study at the Fachhochlschule Dusseldorf – {University of Design & Applied Sciences, Dusseldorf}.

As such, I’ve been busily designing a portfolio, making a website, writing applications, a curriculum vitae – not to mention all the other travel necessity nasties. Moreover, it’s sent me into a bit of a financial panic (just like the rest of the general populus, I suppose…) so I’ve decided to get cracking and start selling some of my wares.

I’ll be selling hand-made and hand-altered wares including jewellery, vintage clothing, paper goods and other small treasures. I think I’ll try as bet I can to document the process here, which could be helpful to other budding Etsians. Feedback I always appreciated, too!

I’ve listed a small few items, with more to come on a weekly basis. I’ve tried to refine the colour palette and aesthetic to keep it graphic and eye-catching, and reflect the pieces. It’s surprisingly difficult to create decent product photography without the use of studio equipment — currently I’m using sunshine and polystyrene sheet (as reflectors).

i vote for art is an online boutique where artists and designers can sell their works interantionally. It works in a similar format to Etsy, and has a cute feature which allows the general public to vote on favourite works by the click of a button.

It’s a very sweet concept, but I kind of wish it wasn’t limited to 2D works – artists may sell original paintings, and limited or open edition prints – but I suppose drawing the line around 3D works is more complicated, and risks treading on the toes of etsy…

Nonetheless, its always wonderful to see fledgling galleries offering this kind of publicity to independent artists. 🙂

Joshua Davis is a New York-based artist/designer/graphismo who (among other things) uses generative code to create digital compositions of incredible complexity and individuality.

Tropism is an exhibition which is the collaborative result of Davis and design studio Commonwealth, featuring a series of porcelain vases imprinted with unique graphic elements.

Davis’ element of the works involved the creation of drawn elements based on images of dissections from a 1908 book called “Types of Floral Mechanics”, which were fed into a generative algorithm, creating highly intricate digital illustrations, some of which were used for hi-res digital inkjet prints, and others printed onto transfers which were applied to the vases during the firing process.

The vases were created by Commonwealth using Maya (a 3D modelling program) and a stereolithographic 3D print of the object was created, in order to derive a mould for slip-casting.

The resulting objects are a collision of technology and organic form, reminiscant of grafted plants and fractal divisions. The sheer materiality of the porcelain and the soft, nature-derived colour scheme of Davis’ illustration makes the works immediately inviting, defying the usual cold preconception of digitally-derived objects.

Interestingly, Davis’ use of colour is actually derived from nature. In an interview on the Apple – Pro website, Davis states,

“I take a lot of digital photographs just to extract color. I go to an arboretum here on Long Island at different points in the year and take pictures of the orchid show or the Christmas poinsettias. Nature does a pretty good job of blending. You’ll get a flower that starts with green, goes up to yellow, and blooms red. So already I’ve got a red, a yellow, and a green that all complement each other…

I take that image and run it through this program I’ve created, and say, ”Okay, extract the top 16 colors.” So now I have a range of colors extracted out of the image that I blended. The most complex color set I’ve done was 74 colors, and the average is 32.”

I find this idea of ‘digital materiality’ really compelling, especially in the forms of object design and wearables. Commonwealth describe themselves as “harnessing a new fluidity applicable to both the brutality of Architecture and the minutia of the graphic arts” as a point of departure for their design firm. This philosophy reminds me of one of my favourite projects by Dutch wunderkind Dinie Besems.

Kareem Rizk is a Melbourne artist/graphismo who makes gorgeous collage and mixed media works, as well as graphic design and some gorgeous photography.

I love the textural, analogue-meets-digital aesthetic of his collage pieces, which translate beautifully online. I’ve had a penchant for that kind of digital lo-fi style since discovering {ths} (Thomas Schostok) and Misprinted Type (Eduardo Recife).

I love EAMO‘s (say it like ay-moe) unabashed sense of cultural identity. His vibrant, poppy illustrations are injected with kitschy Australian-isms, displaying that tongue-in-cheek eclecticism which is so essentially Australian

The black and white image above is part of the basis for a wall installation that recently emblazoned the rock temple that is the Annadale Hotel.

Check out his website for more visual candy and working sketches. It’s amazing to see the magic one person can weave with a brush pen and black and white ink…

Benjamin Forster is an amazing local artist whose work completely enraptures me. He is a graduate of the ANU School of Art and still resides in Canberra.

Among his drawing explorations he has investigated computer programming and created a java program which enables his computer to create drawings based in his own pencilings. My personal favourite is the artist book La Lecon D’Amour Dans Un Parc within which he explored a personal narrative through illustrations over the pages of an old book. Apart from being technically and visually exquisite, this work really speaks to me – I love the idea of reclaiming these ‘lost’ stories or objects, these earthly, physical experiences. Like opening an old book or touching antique lace. I feel like Benjamin’s work reminds us of our own physicality somehow. *sigh* and here I am in cyberspace. I might go and draw on some walls. 🙂